Creating An American Army - John J. Pershing I WHO DID WHAT IN WW1? (Mai 2024)
John J. Pershing, en entier John Joseph Pershing, surnom Black Jack, (né le 13 septembre 1860, Laclede, Missouri, États-Unis - décédé le 15 juillet 1948, Washington, DC), général de l'armée américaine qui commandait l'American Expeditionary Force (AEF)) en Europe pendant la Première Guerre mondiale
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Pershing est diplômé de l'Académie militaire des États-Unis à West Point, New York, en 1886. Il a été nommé sous-lieutenant et affecté à la 6e cavalerie, qui menait alors des opérations contre Geronimo et le Chiricahua Apache dans le sud-ouest. En 1890, Pershing a servi dans la campagne pour supprimer le mouvement de danse fantôme et un soulèvement parmi les Sioux dans le territoire du Dakota, mais son unité n'a pas participé au massacre de Wounded Knee. En 1891, il est devenu instructeur en sciences militaires à l'Université du Nebraska, Lincoln. Pendant son séjour, il a également obtenu un diplôme en droit (1893). Il a été nommé instructeur tactique à West Point en 1897.
La guerre hispano-américaine a donné à Pershing une opportunité de promotion rapide. Il a servi à Cuba pendant la campagne de Santiago (1898) et a été nommé officier chargé des munitions avec le grade de major de volontaires. En juin 1899, il est nommé adjudant général. Il a organisé le Bureau des affaires insulaires du Département de la guerre et a dirigé ce bureau pendant plusieurs mois. Pershing est envoyé aux Philippines comme adjudant général du département de Mindanao en novembre 1899. Il est nommé capitaine de l'armée régulière en 1901 et mène une campagne contre les Moros jusqu'en 1903. En 1905, il est envoyé au Japon comme attaché militaire du l'ambassade des États-Unis, et pendant la guerre russo-japonaise, il a passé plusieurs mois en tant qu'observateur avec l'armée japonaise en Mandchourie. En reconnaissance de son service aux Philippines, le président américain.Theodore Roosevelt promut Pershing au grade de brigadier-général en qualité de capitaine en 1906, passant ainsi plus de 862 officiers supérieurs. Pershing est retourné aux Philippines et y est resté jusqu'en 1913, en tant que commandant du département de Mindanao et gouverneur de la province de Moro. Il a ensuite attiré l'attention en tant que commandant de l'expédition punitive envoyée contre la révolutionnaire mexicaine Pancho Villa, qui avait attaqué Columbus, au Nouveau-Mexique, en 1916. Après la mort du major-général Frederick Funston en 1917, Pershing lui a succédé comme commandant des États-Unis. -Frontière mexicaine.Il a ensuite attiré l'attention en tant que commandant de l'expédition punitive envoyée contre la révolutionnaire mexicaine Pancho Villa, qui avait attaqué Columbus, au Nouveau-Mexique, en 1916. Après la mort du major-général Frederick Funston en 1917, Pershing lui a succédé comme commandant des États-Unis. -Frontière mexicaine.Il a ensuite attiré l'attention en tant que commandant de l'expédition punitive envoyée contre la révolutionnaire mexicaine Pancho Villa, qui avait attaqué Columbus, au Nouveau-Mexique, en 1916. Après la mort du major-général Frederick Funston en 1917, Pershing lui a succédé comme commandant des États-Unis. -Frontière mexicaine.
After the United States declared war on Germany (April 1917), Pres. Woodrow Wilson selected Pershing to command the American troops being sent to Europe. The transition from the anti-insurgency campaigns that had characterized much of Pershing’s career to the vast stagnant siege of the Western Front was an extreme test, but Pershing brought to the challenge a keen administrative sense and a knack for carrying out plans in spite of adversity. With his staff, Pershing landed in France on June 9, 1917, and that month he submitted a “General Organization Report” recommending the creation of an army of one million men by 1918 and three million by 1919. Earlier American planning had not contemplated such a large army. Having assumed that the AEF could not be organized in time to support military operations on the Western Front, the Allies had asked only for financial, economic, and naval assistance. Pershing’s recommendations regarding the numbers and disposition of troops prevailed, however, especially after Allied fortunes worsened during 1917. By early 1918, American plans had called for concentrating an independent army on the Western Front, which Pershing hoped would spearhead a decisive offensive against Germany.
The exhaustion of the Allies, stemming from the setbacks of 1917, increased their dependence on U.S. arms. It also engendered pressure on Pershing to condone the “amalgamation” of small units of American troops into European armies, as the Allies desperately wanted replacements for their depleted formations to resist expected attacks. From the start, Pershing insisted that the integrity of the American army be preserved, making a firm stand against French tutelage and the French desire to infuse the new American blood into their ranks. Pershing also opposed proposals to divert some U.S. troops to secondary theatres. The Supreme War Council, an institution established to coordinate the political-military strategy of the Allies, continually recommended amalgamation and that diversionary operations be conducted elsewhere than in France, but Pershing remained unmoved. If Pershing’s stance imposed a strain on the exhausted Allies, it was justified by the oft-cited warning against “pouring new wine into old bottles.” Pershing also felt that such an arrangement would represent an unprecedented sacrifice of national prestige. He argued that the fielding of an independent American army would be a serious blow to German morale and provide a permanent uplift to American self-confidence.
The disasters of early 1918 seemed to demonstrate the great risk that had been taken in pursuit of Pershing’s ideal. The Germans, their Western Front armies having been strongly reinforced because of the armistice recently concluded between the German-led Central Powers and Russia, embarked on a fresh wave of attacks designed to break the Allies’ will before the Americans could deploy in strength. At the Second Battle of the Somme, German armies advanced 40 miles (64 km) and captured some 70,000 Allied prisoners. When the German offensives of March–June 1918 threatened Paris, Pershing placed all his resources firmly at the disposal of French Marshal Ferdinand Foch. These pressures subsided when the Allies assumed the offensive during the summer, however, and Pershing reverted to his previous policy.
Pershing’s army never became entirely self-sufficient, but it conducted two significant operations. In September 1918 the AEF assaulted the Saint-Mihiel salient successfully. Then, at Foch’s request, later that month Pershing quickly regrouped his forces for the Meuse-Argonne offensive, despite his original plans to advance toward Metz. Though incomplete preparations and inexperience slowed the Meuse-Argonne operations, the inter-Allied offensive in France destroyed German resistance in early October and led to the Armistice the following month.
Pershing was criticized for operational and logistic errors, but his creation of the AEF was a remarkable achievement. He returned home with a sound reputation, and, on September 1, 1919, he was given the rank of general of the armies of the United States. Pershing’s nickname, “Black Jack,” derived from his service with a black regiment early in his career, had come to signify his stern bearing and rigid discipline. His determination and dedication had gained him the respect and admiration of his men, if not their affection. Eschewing politics, Pershing remained in the army, serving as chief of staff from 1921 until his retirement three years later. Pershing’s memoirs were published as My Experiences in the World War, 2 vol. (1931).
